And a pocketknife that would have probably been more likely to hurt the handler than another person if there was an attempt to use it as a weapon. In Europe, that knife would have been perfectly legal to bring on board — and useful to open the hermetically sealed food U.S. flag carriers throw at people in economy. In Geneva and Zurich the duty free shops sell Swis Army knives AFTER you get through security. That said, the knife here was unlikely to have been accidentally brought along as there seems to have been an attempt to disguise it.

In in full disclosure I have lost two pocketknives that were inadvertently left in the deep recesses of a briefcase. One I thought I had lost some time before that event — well I did then. MKE enroute to OSH. I was changing planes there and the bag successfully went through screening at my airport of departure. The lesson learned was not to let the airlines take me anywhere I would rather fly myself. The second time the screener asked if I wanted to go back and get it in my checked bag or mailed to my home. Since I was enroute to Geneva, Switzerland, I just used the loss as an excuse to buy a new knife.